Guided roller-lever accelerator pedal



Jan. 5, 1965 G. A. RUBISSOW GUIDED ROLLER-LEVER ACCELERATOR PEDAL Filed May 3, 1961 IIVVENTOR ""kal United States Patent 3,164,033 GUIDED ROLLER-LEVER AQCELERATDR PEDAL George A. Ruhissow, 420 Riverside Drive, New York 25, N.Y. Fiied May 3, 1961, Ser. No. 107,469 12 Ciaims. (Cl. 74-5625) In my previous US. Patents Nos. 2,235,851, 2,382,918, 2,235,850, 2,271,663, 2,270,901, 2,270,960, 2,235,852, 2,270,902, 2,258,625, 2,282,918 various accelerator devices for vehicles were described and patented. As before mentioned by me in these previous patents, the existing accelerator devices actuated by means of footwear (or foot) are all very defective because they require a constant pressure from the footwear of the operator, which pressure may only be maintained in the muscles and nerves of the leg and/ or the foot of the operator. No doubt this is not only extremely tiring but also very damaging to the health of the operator, especially if the operator is a professional driver or has to drive several hours at a time.

Many inventors have tried to eliminate the said inconveniences of the existing throttle and/or accelerator arrangements and by different means, but have not found a device which may easily and at the lowest cost, be adapted to the already existing installed throttles. I The present invention consists in a device which may be adapted and installed in a few minutes to any existing type of throttle, and when so installed, the said device offers the following advantages:

The driver, instead of keeping his foot (or footwear) in a permanently raised position, may rest his foot on the floor without any tension or intentional force to be provided in his muscles and/or in his nerves. That means that the operator who uses the present invention will use his foot exactly in the same manner as if he were sitting in the chair of a theater, when his feet are just resting on the floor without any will-action and without any special force to be provided in the musicles and nerves.

Furthermore, the driver, instead of pressing the footwear against the throttle accelerator pedal (as the o erators do at the present time with the existing throttles), will only be obliged to move his footwear to and fro (or sideways or both) contacting during this movement the member (actuating device) subject of this invention, and will operate, by means of this displacement of his footwear (resting or sliding on the floor), the throttle accelerator pedal to which the member is connected by suitable means.

The device, according to this invention, consists in a rotatable lever and a rigid runway arrangement which could be easily mounted upon any existing type of throttle control system of a vehicle in a few minutes and which is very inexpensive in cost and in installation, and thus at the service of everyone.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings but is not limited thereto. Like references refer to like subject matters.

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partially in cross section, of one aspect of this invention with parts broken out.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of another aspect of this invention, partially in cross section.

3154333 Patented Jan. 5, 1965 FIGURE 4 is a plan view of another aspect of this invention.

FIGURE 5 is a side view of FIGURE 4 with par-ts broken out and partially in cross section.

On FIGURES 1 and 2 the existing pedal 10 mounted pivotally on the axle 42 provided in a support 43, is actuating the throttle through the rod 11. According to this invention, a lever 19 is mounted upon a support 40, FIGURES 1 and 2; or 35, FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, and is provided with a bearing member means 38 composed of an inner part (or axle) 16 rigid in respect to the pedal 1!) (or to the lever 19) and an outer part (or bushing) 17 is rigidly mounted in respect to the lever 19 in a part 18 (or mounted upon the pedal 10). Any type of bearing means could be used, either a ball or roller bearing such as 16-17, FIGURES 1 and 2, or an ordinary axle 16 mounted in a bushing 17, FIGURES 4 and 5. The axis of rotation 39 of this hearing means is preferably perpendicular to the plane of the pedal 10 thus permitting the lever 19 to rotate freely in a plane parallel to the plane of the pedal. This lever is further provided on a part of its free end with a roller 20 which could be either a ball bearing 20 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, or in the form of an ordinary roller or small wheel as shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5. This roller will thus follow a pass of a part of a circle coaxial with the axis of rotation 39 of the bearing means 38. A rigid guide member 27 is rigidly mounted in regard to the vehicle. It could be mounted either upon the shaft 33 by a support 28-29 and by means of fastening means 32, or upon the floor 34 of the vehicle by a support 30 and fastening means 31 shown in dotted lines on FIGURES 1 and 2 as a variation.

On FIGURES 3 and 4, the support 29 is shown in dotted lines also as a variation. The rigid guide means 27 is provided with a runway surface which is the lower surface of the guide means member and which is following the pass of the part of a circle, i.e. is coaxial with the axis of rotation 39 of the bearing means 38 and thus matching the corresponding pass of the roller when it is moved to and fro by the lever 19 when the lever itself is moved to and fro by member 23 pushed by the drivers footwear 26. Since the support 29 variations are independent of the bearing means 29 variations, other combinations of the two may be made if desired.

Each of said levers, said supports, and said runways could be provided with adjustable extension means to fit any desirable dimensions of said lever or said support or said runway adaptable to any type of car (not shown in drawings being self-explanatory).

The length of the runway could be so chosen that it will be of any desired suitable length. If a longer runway is used, then the roller will have a longer displacement area for its action. Thus, the operation angle a of the lever will be bigger, and vice versa. If, for instance, the total down movement of the pedal is assumed to be 1.5, then if the inclination angle 11 of the runway (FIGURES 1, 2 and 3) is, for instance, 45, then the runway will have the same horizontal projection length as the down movement length of the pedal. If the angle b is 30 then the runway will be about double the length of the down movement of the pedal, etc. This all by way of example only and not limiting thereto.

The support 40 FIGURES 1 and 2 or 35 FIG. 4 for the bearing means 38 could be of any type. If made of two parts 12 and 13, these parts could be pivotally interlinked by an axle 15 and then the plates tightened to the pedal by means of tightening means 14 of any type. If made of one part, such as support 35, FIG. 4, then it could be provided with tightening means 36.

If desired, the'runway provided wit guide means 27 could be built in the form of a rod provided with a sup port 28, 29 0rd!) and the roller could have a groove to match this rod and to roll upon it (not shown in the figures).

The device could be placed on any side of the pedal and although the drawings show only a device mounted on the left side of the pedal it), it could be mounted on the right side of it or in front or back of it.

The runway is inclined toward the floor or in respect to the plane of the pedal as shown in all the figures. The front part of the runway is higher than the rear of it. The inclination could be of any form. Obviously, the

' various forms of inclination may all have a top view as shown by arcuate member 27 in FIG. 4 so that the projection of the inclined path of the runway has 3% as its center. It could be either a'straight line inclination as shown in allthe figures, or it could follow a curved pass, for instance a circular line of any suitable diameter radius, a parabolic line or any other curved pass or a combination of a curved pass with a straight line or lines. The lever instead of being made in a straight line could have curve form, curved in at least one plane. This is not shown in the figures being self-explanatory.

The lever 19 is provided with interconnecting means 2122 by means of which a pusher member lever 23 is attached to the lever 19 and this pusher member lever 23 has its free end resting freely upon the floor or, if desired, upon a friction diminishing plate 41, FIGURE 2, interposed between said floor and the contact part 2425 of the member 23 to provide a better sliding facility for it when the pusher member lever 23 is pushed 'by the footwear of the driver upon the floor or upon this plate.

The free end 37 of the pusher member lever 23 could be provided with a rubber cushion 24 provided with a soft leather or textile covering 25 to provide an agreeable contact with the footwear of thedriver.

The operation of this device is very simple. The driver moves (pushes) to and fro the cushion 24-25 while his footwear is resting upon the surface of the floor 34 or upon the surface of the plate 41 and thus the lever 19 is automatically rotated around the axis 3?, and while so rotating it will push the pedal downward when the lever is pushed forward by the driver, and when released the resilient means 44 of the throttle linkage will push the lever 19 to its initial position, and so on. Thus the operation of the pedal will be produced by pushing to and fro the pusher member lever 23 or when desired by simply. using the pedal'in the common way.

Although certain forms of this invention have been shown and described in the application by way of illustration, it will be understood that many other variations may also be constructed as they are described, or if they come within the scope of the text of the specification or the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A device for actuating an accelerator pedal of a vehicle comprising a lever one end of which is mounted rotatably in respect to the accelerator pedal through the intermediary of bearing means concentric with a first axis of rotation of a first shaft mounted on said pedal,

one part of which bearing means is rigid in respect to said pedal and another part of which bearing means is rigid in respect to said lever, a free end of said lever being provided with a roller spaced from the end of said lever freely rotatable around the longitudinal axis of said lever, a pusher member attached pivotally by its one end to a part of said free end of said lever and having its 4 other free end resting freely upon an area of its dis placement upon the floor of said vehicle, a guide means afiixed by a support rigidly in respect to the body of said vehicle and having an inclined runway provided upon its lower surface inclined under an angle in respect to the fioor of said vehicle, said runway forming an arc concentric to said first axis of rotation and being provided in the proximity of said pedal in such a manner that the upper surface of said roller contacts uninterruptedly said runway while said lever is pivoted to and fro around the axis of its said bearing means whereby said roller automatically forces said pedal to move, thus actuating the throttle of said vehicle to any desired degree when said pusher member is pushed by the footwear of the drive to and fro upon said area of displacement and is held in any desired position without exerting any muscle effort.

2. A device for actuating an accelerator pedal of a vehicle comprising a first bearing means mounted upon the free end of a lever by means of a first support, said bearing means having its first axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to the surface of said pedal, one part of it rigid in respect to said pedal, said lever rigidly interconnected to the other part of said bearing means and rotatable around said axis of rotation, the free end of said lever being provided with a freely rotatable roller spaced from the end of said lever and being mounted upon it, its second axis of rotation being preferably perpendicular to a plane passing through the said aXis of rotation of said first bearing means, whereby when said lever is pushed to and for, said roller rolls upon a pass forming a part of a circle concentric to said first axis of rotation of said first bearing means, a rigid guide means provided with a runway matching said pass and forming a part of a circle concentric to said first axis of rotation, said runway being inclined, having its highest point at a place where the position of said roller corresponds to the initial position of said pedal, and having its lowest point corresponding to the position of said roller when said pedal is fully pressed down, a pusher member being pivotally attached by its one end to a part of the free end of said first lever and having its own free end resting freely upon an area of displacement of said pusher member when it is operated by moving it to and fro by foot wear of the driver, which accordingly rotates limitedly to and fro said first lever around its said first axis of rotation thus causing said roller to press said pedal downward when pushing the roller forward and releasing the pedal upward when the roller is urged by the resiliency of the pedal and is thus moved backward upon said runway, said pusher member lever being held in any desired position of the pedal operation by a frictional engagement of the sole of said footwear due to the freely resting weight of the foot and of the footwear upon said displacement area whereby the engine runs very smoothly and no muscular strength is required to maintain the pedal in any desirable position.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said runway is a flat piece of rigid material and is attached to a support means by fastening means rigidly in respect to the post of the steering wheel of said vehicle.

4. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said runway is a flat piece of rigid material and is attached to a support means by fastening means rigidly in respect to the walls of said vehicle.

5. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said runway is a flat piece of rigid material and is attached to a support means by fastening means rigidly in respect to the floor of said vehicle.

6. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said bearing means being a ball bearing of such a diameter which permits the balls to transfer without clamping the bending forces of said lever into down and up movements of said pedal when said lever is simultaneously rotating and pressing down said pedal by said roller rolling upon the surface of said runway.

7. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said lever has a curved form, curved in at least one plane.

8. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said pusher member has a curved form in at least one plane.

9. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said inclination of said runway is a straight line.

10. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said inclination of said runway is a curved line.

11. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said inclination of said runway is a circular line.

12. A device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said inclination of said runway is a parabolic line.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Bush 74-513 Moloney 54564 Holtzclaw 74-5625 Rubissow 74-5625 Rubissow 74562.5 Rubissow 74513 Rubissow 74-513 BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR ACTUATING AN ACCELERATOR PEDAL OF A VEHICLE COMPRISING A LEVER ONE END OF WHICH IS MOUNTED ROTATABLY IN RESPECT TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL THROUGH THE INTERMEDIARY OF BEARING MEANS CONCENTRIC WITH A FIRST AXIS OF ROTATION OF A FIRST SHAFT MOUNTED ON SAID PEDAL ONE PART OF WHICH BEARING MEANS IS RIGID IN RESPECT TO SAID PEDAL AND ANOTHER PART OF WHICH BEARING MEANS IS RIGID IN RESPECT TO SAID LEVER, A FREE END OF SAID LEVER BEING PROVIDED WITH A ROLLER SPACED FROM THE END OF SAID LEVER FREELY ROTATABLE AROUND THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID LEVER, A PUSHER MEMBER ATTACHED PIVOTALLY BY ITS ONE END TO A PART OF SAID FREE END OF SAID LEVER AND HAVING ITS OTHER FREE END RESTING FREELY UPON AN AREA OF ITS DISPLACEMENT UPON THE FLOOR OF SAID VEHICLE, A GUIDE MEANS AFFIXED BY A SUPPORT RIGIDLY IN RESPECT TO THE BODY OF SAID VEHICLE AND HAVING AN INCLINED RUNWAY PROVIDED UPON ITS LOWER SURFACE INCLINED UNDER AN ANGLE IN RESPECT TO THE FLOOR OF SAID VEHICLE, SAID RUNWAY FORMING AN ARC CONCENTRIC TO SAID FIRST AXIS OF ROTATION AND BEING PROVIDED IN THE PROXIMITY OF SAID PEDAL IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID ROLLER CONTACTS UNINTERRUPTEDLY SAID RUNWAY WHILE SAID LEVER IS PIVOTED TO AND FRO AROUND THE AXIS OF ITS SAID BEARING MEANS WHEREBY SAID ROLLER AUTOMATICALLY FORCES SAID PEDAL TO MOVE, THUS ACTUATING THE THROTTLE OF SAID VEHICLE TO ANY DESIRED DEGREE WHEN SAID PUSHER MEMBER IS PUSHED BY THE FOOTWEAR OF THE DRIVE TO AND FRO UPON SAID AREA OF DISPLACEMENT AND IS HELD IN ANY DESIRED POSITION WITHOUT EXERTING ANY MUSCLE EFFORT. 